Associate Minister for Agriculture Nicola Grigg said the government has backed a project to squeeze more value out of New Zealand blackcurrants.
“We’re investing in a two-year project with PharmaZen Limited to add value to our blackcurrants industry by piloting a processing facility in Canterbury, allowing growers to transform waste into a high-value product, creating additional revenue streams for the industry,” said Grigg.
“This high-value product, known as pomace, can be extracted during juice processing and is high in anthocyanins, an antioxidant that gives the berries a rich blue colour and can be used in food and health supplements.”
Grigg added that blackcurrant products such as blackcurrant concentrate and frozen fruit contribute nearly seven percent of New Zealand’s total export value in processed fruit categories.
By creating onshore processing capacity, this project has aimed to take the industry to the next level, while improving the sustainability of the sector, which would be exciting for New Zealand growers.
Blackcurrants New Zealand Inc., the industry representative body, will help PharmaZen source a reliable supply of fruit as they scale up their processing capacity.
“A fully scaled, expanded facility would increase processing jobs in the Canterbury region and help retain high-value regional jobs.”
She said that being able to process onshore will help build long-term resilience for the sector as PharmaZen builds its international brand and experiments with developing value-added products.
The Government has contributed NZD 276,000 over two years to the NZD 690,000 project from the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures (SFF Futures) fund.
“This is just one way our Government is supporting our horticulture industry to thrive as we work towards our goal of doubling the value of exports within ten years.”
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